Radiation therapy (RT) is a popular and efficient method for cancer treatment, where ionizing radiation is used in an attempt to destroy malignant tumor cells or to slow down their growth. RT is often combined with surgery, chemotherapy, or hormone therapy, but may also be used as a primary therapy mode. Radiation therapy is most commonly administered as external beam RT, which typically involves directing beams of radiated particles produced by sources located externally with respect to the patient or subject to the afflicted treatment area. The beam can consist of photons, electrons, protons or other heavy ions. As the beam travels through matter (e.g., the subject), energy from the ionizing radiation is deposited along the path in the surrounding matter. This energy is known as “dose,” and is used to measure the efficacy and accuracy of a radiation beam. Malignant cells are damaged along the path of radiation beam during the RT. Unfortunately, the damage from the radiation is not limited to malignant cells and may be incurred by any interceding or adjacent cells. Thus, the dosage of radiation to healthy tissues outside the treatment volume is ideally minimized to avoid being collaterally damaged.
Proton therapy is one type of external beam radiation therapy, and is characterized for using a beam of protons to irradiate diseased tissue. The chief advantage of proton therapy over other conventional therapies such as X-ray or neutron radiation therapies is the ability to administer treatment dosages three dimensionally, by specifying the depth (i.e., penetration) of applied radiation, thereby limiting the inadvertent exposure of un-targeted cells to the potentially harmful radiation. This enables proton therapy treatments to more precisely localize the radiation dosage when compared with other types of external beam radiotherapy. During proton therapy treatment, a particle accelerator, such as a cyclotron, is used to generate a beam of protons from, e.g., an internal ion source located in the center of the cyclotron. The protons in the beam are accelerated—via a generated electric field—and a beam of accelerated protons is subsequently “extracted,” magnetically directed through a series of interconnecting tubes (called the beamline), and applied to a subject in a target treatment room.
Customarily, cyclotron maintenance procedures are performed during services and repairs. Additionally, due to its high consumptive energy usage during operation, a common practice is to shut down or keep a cyclotron in a reduced power state at the end of each day of operation. Conventionally, the re-initialization of cyclotrons after these customary overnight shut-downs or after a service action is completed was performed completely manually by an operator. Among the re-initialization procedures, the operator has to vary the magnetic field of the cyclotron by varying the current of the main coil within the cyclotron to generate a proton beam and to determine a stable working point of the cyclotron. Due to thermal drifts of the cyclotron iron, the magnet current must also be adjusted manually in regular intervals.
Additional readjustments of cyclotrons are also typically required after a service action or repair is performed. These readjustments typically include reconfiguring and re-arranging moveable components within the cyclotron based on analyzed performance values. Generally, these readjustments are performed manually, and also require even well-trained technicians a considerable amount of time.
Unfortunately, due to the complexity of the underlying machines, their operating and maintenance procedures, and the gravity of the corresponding medical procedures, highly trained and skilled operators are needed to perform each of these procedures. Naturally, this can result in significant inefficiency, delay or even potential hazards if qualified operators are not available.